“We approve of your proceeding in the displaying of your banner, which, being now spread, till it is closed again, the course of our laws must give place to martial law; and before you close it up again, you must cause such dreadful execution upon a good number of the inhabitants, hanging them on trees, quartering them and setting their heads and quarters in every town, as shall be a fearful warning, whereby shall ensue the preservation of a great multitude.”[206]
It is noticeable that the King does not here speak of the execution of the leaders, but of “a good number of the inhabitants,” an order which resulted in the most fearful carnage. The Duke of Norfolk, anxious to prove his loyalty, declared that his only regret was that there were not enough iron chains in the country in which to hang the prisoners; ropes must serve for some. But he flattered himself that so great a number put to death at one time had never yet been heard of.[207] “It was,” says one writer, “as if the earth had broken out into gibbets, but in spite of them the people, though coerced, were not cowed.”
Lord Dacre, speaking before the Council, had a tongue as free as when he led his Yorkshire yokels to battle. “It is thou,” he said boldly, confronting Cromwell, “that art the very special and chief cause of all this rebellion and wickedness, and dost daily travail to bring us to our ends and strike off our heads. I trust that ere thou diest, though thou wouldst procure all the noblest heads within the realm to be stricken off, yet there shall one head remain that shall strike off thy head.” After the pardon at Doncaster, three hundred persons wished to pull the curate out of the pulpit at Kendal Church, crying out: “He shall proclaim the Pope to be supreme head of the Church, or be cast into the water!”[208]
But in spite of the anxieties caused by the rebellion, the perennial subject of the disposal of Mary’s hand in marriage was occupying public attention both at home and abroad. It kept the possibility of an alliance with Henry perpetually before the arbiters of European affairs, and did more to avert war than all his other tactics. But it is clear, with the whole history of his negotiations before us, that he never intended Mary to leave the country, and risk her repudiation of all that he had been at so great pains to wring from her.
Already, in February 1536, the Emperor had devised a marriage between his cousin Mary, and Don Loys, brother of King Emanuel of Portugal, his brother-in-law. Henry appeared to look favourably on the proposed match, and in June, a formal demand was made for her hand. The matter was allowed to drag on indefinitely; raised from time to time with much affectation of seriousness, to suit Henry’s policy, it was again repeatedly dropped, for the nice adjustment of the scale, when Francis became restive, at the apparent understanding between his ally and his enemy. Then the proposed union of the Princess Mary with the Duke of Orleans was once more brought forward, and so the changes rang for some time. But all this was merely on the surface; and the question of Mary’s legitimacy was the only real point at issue, for it involved the whole series of events which had landed Henry in his actual position with regard to his own subjects, to his fellow-sovereigns, and to the Pope, still a power to be reckoned with. To yield that point was to give up all he had been fighting for during the last ten years, and to cut away the ground from under his feet. If he temporised long enough, the possible birth of a son might allow him to restore his daughter without loss of his own dignity.
Charles V., in putting forward Don Loys as a suitor, made the condition, that the slur cast by Henry on Mary’s birth should be removed; and Henry’s instructions to his special envoy, Sir Thomas Wyatt, on the renewal of his amity with the Emperor, show the use her father intended to make of her renunciation of her birthright.
“If,” the instructions ran, “the Emperor is grieved that the lady Mary is declared illegitimate, although born in bona fide parentum, Wyatt must declare that when the prohibition is of the law of God, bona fides cannot be alleged; moreover, that the assertion of her illegitimacy will irritate the King, and Wyatt shall deliver a letter to the Emperor from the lady Mary showing how she reputes herself. If the Emperor speaks of an overture of marriage that was lately made for her with the Infant of Portugal, he shall say he has no commission therein, but thinks the matter might be arranged, if the Infant will take her, as only to succeed to the Crown in default of issue male or female from his present queen.”[209]
Chapuys’ letter to the Emperor on the 7th October proves that her difficulties were not yet at an end:—
“I have just this moment received a letter from the Princess, saying that yesterday, the King her father sent her the draft of a letter which he wished her to write to your Majesty, the substance of which is, that being now better informed than she was before, through reading books and continually consulting learned and holy persons, perhaps also inspired by the grace of the Holy Ghost, she has of her own free will, without compulsion of any sort, suggestion, impression, respect or regard for any person whomsoever, acknowledged, confirmed, and approved the statutes of this kingdom, declaring her mother’s marriage to have been unlawful, and the King her father to be the chief of the Church, at the same time, begging and entreating your Majesty to allow truth to prevail, and not disturb nor impede it at the General Council or anywhere else—all this, in order that the King, who has behaved so kindly towards the Princess, may not have occasion to treat her differently. The Princess desires me to inform your Majesty of this, and wishes to know what answer she is to give to her father’s request. She would also be glad for your Majesty to show discontent at her and her acts. Though it seems to me, that this is not the time nor the opportunity for doing so, I could not do otherwise than obey the Princess, and express her wishes in that particular. It might be that your Majesty could find hereafter some excuse for dissembling, not meddling in the affair, but giving some evasive answer or other; for although this King may insist upon the letter being written, perhaps he may not send it on, and will keep it by him, to use at the proper time and place. This has been the cause of my reporting, as fully as I have done, on the contents of the draft which the Princess has in her possession, I have taken care to inform Count Cifuentes of everything, even of the protest which she has already signed, as well as of that which she ought to make, before the letter demanded of her is written, that the Count may speak (to the Pope) and answer as the case requires.”[210]
The next day, he wrote again to Cifuentes, saying that it would be necessary to warn his Holiness of all that was going on, that he might not, in the event of the said letter being written, or of a similar one being shown to him, reply to the Princess as if he were angry for what had been done. “As these people have their doubts, as to the precise wording of the Princess’s renunciation, and have their fears and suspicions concerning the future, they are now taking their measures, and trying to make sure of her before they bring her back to court. Should she come, I will do my best to find out a remedy in all this business; for the present nothing more can be done. Her Highness must be advised and encouraged to listen to the words of these people, and not let them imagine that under what her Highness is now doing there lies a danger for them. If your Lordship does not know it already, I can tell you that for a long time back, her Highness has, by my advice, applied such a remedy, and drawn such protests for the safeguarding of her right, that I do not think any more are required. To the protest formerly made, the Princess herself has since added, after consulting over the matter with me, certain clauses and words which render all other precautions perfectly useless. Your Lordship however must keep profoundly secret in these matters, for should these people hear of our precautionary measures for the future, the Princess would not be allowed to live long. It is therefore necessary that no living person should know of this save your Lordship, to whom I cannot at present sufficiently declare the precise text of the letters which her Highness, as aforesaid, will be compelled to write. You may however be sure of one thing, namely, that those who have the charge of making the draft thereof will forget no circumstance nor expression likely to serve their purpose, and will make the Princess sign it. The Princess herself being apprehensive of what may come out of all this, has sent me orders to communicate with his Imperial Majesty, and with your most illustrious Lordship on the subject, that you may be warned, and prepared to answer whenever the thing be made public; but above all, let it be settled, that whatever papers and letters her Highness is made to sign on this occasion, there is no truth whatever in them, and that she signs them by sheer force.”[211]